Opinion

It’s really the last chance you have to wreak havoc in your hometown and not take on full “adult-like” responsibility for those actions, especially if you’re under 18. Even though by this time you have graduated and have allegedly earned more respect; most people are left to think that some people just never grow up.

One evening while taking my puppies outside to do their, as I, and other dog owners, only know how to call it, “evening ritual,” I noticed something I hadn’t seen in a long time: A lightning bug, a.k.a. firefly, was fluttering around the backyard. Suddenly, there was another, then another, then, before I knew it, there were five altogether.

Lately, some officials in Campbell County have displayed behavior ranging from impractical to downright preposterous. Their conduct has risen to such a level that I wonder why they ran for office to begin with.

An example of the unfeasible behavior was at a recent LaFollette City Council meeting. A council member made the suggestion to have an employee, who was off work due to a medical problem, conduct an investigation into a personnel matter. Essentially, the council member wanted to have someone, too ill to work, look into a stressful, highly contested, hot button issue.

I’m not usually candid when it comes to certain personal and deep facets about my life to my readers. However, there are some things I don’t care to share with anyone, especially when they teach a valuable lesson like this one.

When I was in my teens and early 20s, I wanted nothing more than to simply belong. I didn’t care who accepted me, just as long as I was accepted. There were those few individuals who truly made a difference in my life and I’m blessed to have known them.

Where in the world is the Kmart money? It is a question that commissioners and voters alike should be asking.

When the county acquired $700,000 in proceeds from the sale of the building commissioners earmarked the money for industrial development, vowing only to use it when a prime piece of industrial property came along.

Now nearly two years and what seems like a zillion debates later the same group has managed to spend nearly every penny.

Last Friday afternoon, the day before Americans celebrated independence, a bombshell was dropped on the political world.

Sarah Palin, Republican Governor of Alaska, not only announced she would not be seeking re-election, but she also announced that she would be resigning as governor later this month, effective July 26. The announcement stunned all political observers, and the rumors began swirling.

Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Taft Benson once said, “God help us to be grateful for our blessings, never to be guilty of the sin of ingratitude, and to instill this same gratitude into the lives of our children. Someone has said that an ungrateful man is like a hog under a tree eating apples and never looking up to see where they come from.”

This week’s story comes from something that caught my eye as I was checking my email.

There’s always been something special about Fourth of July. I’ve loved it ever since I was a child. In fact, the kid in me never really grew up.

One Fourth of July, when I was 8- years- old, my sisters and our cousins would always go to our grandparents’ house.

We’d roast weenies and marshmallows, light sparklers, pop the champagne bottles that would shoot out confetti and streamers, and the infamous popping “dinky-do’s” that you’d throw on the ground. After that, the real celebration would start.

Will there be many more? One thing’s for certain, America’s form of government-- and the God-given privileges of liberty it uniquely protects-- depends upon popular renewal and eternal vigilance. If we, the people, ever forget the principles of our great country we are sure to lose it.

Would it be eternal wisdom, fame and fortune, eternal youth? Well, I’m sure all of our responses are unanimous when it comes to eternal youth. There’s nothing like remembering every week on grandma and grandpa’s farm where you would help grandma with supper as grandpa would take you strawberry hunting in his garden. His rule was always what you picked was what you got to eat later on.